scholarly journals Role of the dinB Gene Product in Spontaneous Mutation in Escherichia coli with an Impaired Replicative Polymerase

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (23) ◽  
pp. 6742-6750 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Strauss ◽  
R. Roberts ◽  
L. Francis ◽  
P. Pouryazdanparast
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Mismatch Repair ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
Luria Bertani ◽  
Base Substitution ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Selection Scheme ◽  
Mutator Effect ◽  
Substitution Mutations

ABSTRACT We isolated several new mutator mutations of the Escherichia coli replicative polymerase dnaE subunit alpha and used them and a previously reported dnaE mutation to study spontaneous frameshift and base substitution mutations. Two of thesednaE strains produce many more mutants when grown on rich (Luria-Bertani) than on minimal medium. A differential effect of the medium was not observed when these dnaE mutations were combined with a mismatch repair mutation. The selection scheme for thednaE mutations required that they be able to complement a temperature-sensitive strain. However, the ability to complement is not related to the mutator effect for at least one of the mutants. Comparison of the mutation rates for frameshift and base substitution mutations in mutS and dnaE mutS strains suggests that the mismatch repair proteins respond differently to the two types of change. Deletion of dinB from both chromosome and plasmid resulted in a four- to fivefold decrease in the rate of frameshift and base substitution mutations in a dnaE mutSdouble mutant background. This reduction indicates that most mistakes in replication occur as a result of the action of the auxiliary rather than the replicative polymerase in this dnaE mutant. Deletion of dinB from strains carrying a wild-typednaE had a measurable effect, suggesting that a fraction of spontaneous mutations occur as a result of dinB polymerase action even in cells with a normal replicative polymerase.

Single-Strand DNA-Specific Exonucleases in Escherichia coli: Roles in Repair and Mutation Avoidance

Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Mohan Viswanathan ◽  
Susan T Lovett
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Single Strand ◽  
Base Substitution ◽  
Frameshift Mutations ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Mutation Avoidance ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Mutator Effect ◽  
Substitution Mutations ◽  
Exonuclease Vii

Abstract Mutations in the genes encoding single-strand DNA-specific exonucleases (ssExos) of Escherichia coli were examined for effects on mutation avoidance, UV repair, and conjugational recombination. Our results indicate complex and partially redundant roles for ssExos in these processes. Although biochemical experiments have implicated RecJ exonuclease, Exonuclease I (ExoI), and Exonuclease VII (ExoVII) in the methyl-directed mismatch repair pathway, the RecJ− ExoI− ExoVII− mutant did not exhibit a mutator phenotype in several assays for base substitution mutations. If these exonucleases do participate in mismatch excision, other exonucleases in E. coli can compensate for their loss. Frameshift mutations, however, were stimulated in the RecJ− ExoI− ExoVII− mutant. For acridine-induced frameshifts, this mutator effect was due to a synergistic effect of ExoI− and ExoVII− mutations, implicating both ExoI and ExoVII in avoidance of frameshift mutations. Although no single exonuclease mutant was especially sensitive to UV irradiation, the RecJ− ExoVII− double mutant was extremely sensitive. The addition of an ExoI− mutation augmented this sensitivity, suggesting that all three exonucleases play partially redundant roles in DNA repair. The ability to inherit genetic markers by conjugation was reduced modestly in the ExoI− RecJ− mutant, implying that the function of either ExoI or RecJ exonucleases enhances RecBCD-dependent homologous recombination.

scholarly journals Escherichia coli Strains (ndk) Lacking Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinase Are Powerful Mutators for Base Substitutions and Frameshifts in Mismatch-Repair-Deficient Strains

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H Miller ◽  
Pauline Funchain ◽  
Wendy Clendenin ◽  
Tiffany Huang ◽  
Anh Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Mismatch Repair ◽  
Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinase ◽  
Base Substitution ◽  
Repair System ◽  
Ndp Kinase ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Base Substitutions ◽  
Mismatch Repair System ◽  
Substitution Mutations

Abstract Nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase is one of the enzymes that maintains triphosphate pools. Escherichia coli strains (ndk) lacking this enzyme have been shown to be modest base substitution mutators, and two members of the human family of NDP kinases act as tumor suppressors. We show here that in E. coli strains lacking NDP kinase high levels of mispairs are generated, but most of these are corrected by the mismatch-repair system. Double mutants that are ndk mutS, lacking both the NDP kinase and mismatch repair, have levels of base substitutions 15-fold higher and levels of certain frameshifts up to 10-fold higher than those of the respective mutations in mutS strains that are NDP kinase proficient. A sequence analysis of the specificity of base substitution mutations generated in ndk and ndk mutS backgrounds as well as other experiments suggests that NDP kinase deficiency stimulates polymerase errors that lead to A:T → G:C transitions and that the editing capacity of cells may be affected, leading to additional uncorrected mispairs and to A:T → T:A transversions.

scholarly journals Antagonism of Ultraviolet-Light Mutagenesis by the Methyl-Directed Mismatch-Repair System of Escherichia coli

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongbo Liu ◽  
Stephen R Hewitt ◽  
John B Hays
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Mismatch Repair ◽  
Excision Repair ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
Repair System ◽  
Uv Mutagenesis ◽  
Repair Protein ◽  
Mismatch Repair System

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that the Escherichia coli MutHLS mismatch-repair system can process UV-irradiated DNA in vivo and that the human MSH2·MSH6 mismatch-repair protein binds more strongly in vitro to photoproduct/base mismatches than to “matched” photoproducts in DNA. We tested the hypothesis that mismatch repair directed against incorrect bases opposite photoproducts might reduce UV mutagenesis, using two alleles at E. coli lacZ codon 461, which revert, respectively, via CCC → CTC and CTT → CTC transitions. F′ lacZ targets were mated from mut+ donors into mutH, mutL, or mutS recipients, once cells were at substantial densities, to minimize spontaneous mutation prior to irradiation. In umu+ mut+ recipients, a range of UV fluences induced lac+ revertant frequencies of 4–25 × 10−8; these frequencies were consistently 2-fold higher in mutH, mutL, or mutS recipients. Since this effect on mutation frequency was unaltered by an Mfd− defect, it appears not to involve transcription-coupled excision repair. In mut+ umuC122::Tn5 bacteria, UV mutagenesis (at 60 J/m2) was very low, but mutH or mutL or mutS mutations increased reversion of both lacZ alleles roughly 25-fold, to 5–10 × 10−8. Thus, at UV doses too low to induce SOS functions, such as Umu2′D, most incorrect bases opposite occasional photoproducts may be removed by mismatch repair, whereas in heavily irradiated (SOS-induced) cells, mismatch repair may only correct some photoproduct/base mismatches, so UV mutagenesis remains substantial.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Dinucleotide Repeat Instability in Escherichia coli

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 533-542
Author(s):  
Marc Bichara ◽  
Isabelle Pinet ◽  
Sylvie Schumacher ◽  
Robert P P Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Mismatch Repair ◽  
Genetic Instability ◽  
Positional Cloning ◽  
Dinucleotide Repeats ◽  
Disease Pathogenesis ◽  
Complementary Sequence ◽  
Phylogenetic Studies ◽  
High Level

Abstract The high level of polymorphism of microsatellites has been used for a variety of purposes such as positional cloning of genes associated with diseases, forensic medicine, and phylogenetic studies. The discovery that microsatellites are associated with human diseases, not only as markers of risk but also directly in disease pathogenesis, has triggered a renewed interest in understanding the mechanism of their instability. In this work we have investigated the role of DNA replication, long patch mismatch repair, and transcription on the genetic instability of all possible combinations of dinucleotide repeats in Escherichia coli. We show that the (GpC) and (ApT) self-complementary sequence repeats are the most unstable and that the mode of replication plays an important role in their instability. We also found that long patch mismatch repair is involved in avoiding both short deletion and expansion events and also in instabilities resulting from the processing of bulges of 6 to 8 bp for the (GpT/ApC)- and (ApG/CpT)-containing repeats. For each dinucleotide sequence repeat, we propose models for instability that involve the possible participation of unusual secondary structures.

DNA methylation in Yersinia enterocolitica: role of the DNA adenine methyltransferase in mismatch repair and regulation of virulence factors

Microbiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 151 (7) ◽  
pp. 2291-2299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Fälker ◽  
M. Alexander Schmidt ◽  
Gerhard Heusipp
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Repair ◽  
Yersinia Enterocolitica ◽  
Virulence Genes ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Dna Adenine Methyltransferase

DNA adenine methyltransferase (Dam) plays an important role in physiological processes of Gram-negative bacteria such as mismatch repair and replication. In addition, Dam regulates the expression of virulence genes in various species. The authors cloned the dam gene of Yersinia enterocolitica and showed that Dam is essential for viability. Dam overproduction in Y. enterocolitica resulted in an increased frequency of spontaneous mutation and decreased resistance to 2-aminopurine; however, these effects were only marginal compared to the effect of overproduction of Escherichia coli-derived Dam in Y. enterocolitica, implying different roles or activities of Dam in mismatch repair of the two species. These differences in Dam function are not the cause for the essentiality of Dam in Y. enterocolitica, as Dam of E. coli can complement a dam defect in Y. enterocolitica. Instead, Dam seems to interfere with expression of essential genes. Furthermore, Dam mediates virulence of Y. enterocolitica. Dam overproduction results in increased tissue culture invasion of Y. enterocolitica, while the expression of specifically in vivo-expressed genes is not altered.

scholarly journals Polymerases Leave Fingerprints: Analysis of the Mutational Spectrum in Escherichia coli rpoB To Assess the Role of Polymerase IV in Spontaneous Mutation

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (9) ◽  
pp. 2900-2905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Wolff ◽  
Mandy Kim ◽  
Kaibin Hu ◽  
Hanjing Yang ◽  
Jeffrey H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Liquid Culture ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
Mutational Spectrum ◽  
Pol Iv ◽  
Rifampin Resistance ◽  
Plasmid Amplification

ABSTRACT We compared the distribution of mutations in rpoB that lead to rifampin resistance in strains with differing levels of polymerase IV (Pol IV), including strains with deletions of the Pol IV-encoding dinB gene, strains with a chromosomal copy of dinB, strains with the F′128 plasmid, and strains with plasmid amplification of either the dinB operon (dinB-yafNOP) or the dinB gene alone. This analysis identifies several hot spots specific to Pol IV which are virtually absent from the normal spontaneous spectrum, indicating that Pol IV does not contribute significantly to mutations occurring during exponential growth in liquid culture.

A MAJOR ROLE FOR BACTERIOPHAGE T4 DNA POLYMERASE IN FRAMESHIFT MUTAGENESIS

Genetics ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-366
Author(s):  
Lynn S Ripley ◽  
Nadja B Shoemaker
Keyword(s):  
Dna Polymerase ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Frameshift Mutation ◽  
Bacteriophage T4 ◽  
Base Substitution ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Polymerase Gene ◽  
Frameshift Mutagenesis ◽  
Substitution Mutations ◽  
Polymerase Mutants

ABSTRACT T4 DNA polymerase strongly influences the frequency and specificity of frameshift mutagenesis. Fifteen of 19 temperature-sensitive alleles of the DNA polymerase gene substantially influenced the reversion frequencies of frameshift mutations measured in the T4 rII genes. Most polymerase mutants increased frameshift frequencies, but a few alleles (previously noted as antimutators for base substitution mutations) decreased the frequencies of certain frameshifts while increasing the frequencies of others. The various patterns of enhanced or decreased frameshift mutation frequencies suggest that T4 DNA polymerase is likely to play a variety of roles in the metabolic events leading to frameshift mutation. A detailed genetic study of the specificity of the mutator properties of three DNA polymerase alleles (tsL56, tsL98 and tsL88) demonstrated that each produces a distinctive frameshift spectrum. Differences in frameshift frequencies at similar DNA sequences within the rII genes, the influence of mutant polymerase alleles on these frequencies, and the presence or absence of the dinucleotide sequence associated with initiation of Okazaki pieces at the frameshift site has led us to suggest that the discontinuities associated with discontinuous DNA replication may contribute to spontaneous frameshift mutation frequencies in T4.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document